The National Research Foundation (NRF) announced today the establishment of the Nuclear Safety Research and Education Programme (NSREP) with funding amounting to S$63 million that will be spread over the next five years.

One of the two components of the NSREP will be the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative (SNRSI), focusing on research and developing capabilities in nuclear safety, science and engineering. The SNRSI will be a national resource hosted in NUS that taps into the local research institutions and builds up new capabilities. It will be led by Professor Lim Hock from the NUS Department of Physics, who is currently Director of Research Governance and Enablement at the University’s Office of the Deputy President (Research and Technology).

The other component of the NSREP will be the Nuclear Education and Training Fund (NETF), which will support education and training in the same areas.

The NSREP initiative was based on the October 2012 recommendations of a nuclear energy pre-feasibility study commissioned by the Singapore Government. The study concluded that while current nuclear energy technologies are not suitable for deployment in Singapore, the nation should continue to play an active role in global and regional cooperation on nuclear safety, monitor the development of nuclear energy technologies, and support research in nuclear science and engineering.

NRF Chief Executive Officer, Professor Low Teck Seng, said: “One of the biggest challenges for us has been the lack of qualified and experienced personnel in areas such as nuclear safety analysis and management. Therefore we have to start building up the capabilities now to ensure that there are suitably trained local scientists and engineers who can assess developments in nuclear technology, and nuclear energy programmes in the region, and advise the government on nuclear safety issues.”

“The nuclear research, education and training programme will also bring broader benefits to Singapore as there are more uses of nuclear technology than just nuclear energy, including its use in medicine, material science, industry and in food and agriculture,” he added.

The 10-year Nuclear Safety Research and Education Programme was announced on Wednesday by the National Research Foundation (NRF). For a start, S$63 million of funding will be set aside for the programme for the first five years. There are now only a handful of nuclear experts in Singapore, as such the NRF hopes to train some 100 scientists and engineers in this area, in the next decade. By about 2024, it is hoped that these scientists and engineers will be experts in three areas -- radiochemistry, radiobiology, and risk assessment.

Singapore is starting a $63 million, five-year programme to conduct research and education in nuclear safety, science, and engineering, the National Research Foundation announced on Wednesday morning. The programme comprises two main parts: a Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative led by Professor Lim Hock of the National University of Singapore, and a Nuclear Education and Training Fund to train undergraduates and graduate students, and support their overseas attachments. It aims to train about ten people a year, about a hundred in all over the next decade.

“To secure a sustainable and resilient energy future, we need to move away from a centralised, one-directional energy delivery paradigm, to one that is multi-directional in delivery, smarter in generation, control and usage, and integrated with different energy sources, storage technologies and low-carbon technologies,” said Dr Yeoh.

About 95% of the electricity in Singapore is generated using natural gas. Initially, most of Singapore’s natural gas was imported from Indonesia and Malaysia through gas pipelines. Since May 2013, Singapore has been importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) to diversify its energy sources. LNG can be easily transported using ships, rather than pipelines, and can therefore be imported from anywhere around the world.

“The development of a thermal storage media with a phase change temperature range of 6-8 degrees can potentially save 20-30% for district cooling. Coupled with the large amount of energy we now use for cooling, the impact is substantial,” said Dr Yeoh.

Dr Yeoh added: “There is great potential for Grid 2.0 to create value for cities globally. By capitalising on our comparative advantage in the delivery of urban solutions and in the management of its underlying infrastructure, we can quickly translate technologies through the test-beds in Singapore into smart solutions that can be exported as a validated, integrated solution to other cities globally.”